Sioux Nation Colt Tops Last Day of Tough Goffs Trade

Provence's sparkling finest lent a little glamor to the final day of the Goffs Orby Sale Oct. 4, where a Sioux Nation colt out of Leoube (IRE) brought some effervescence to a sale that was more of the flat lemonade variety. His sale-topping turn proved to be the only six-figure transaction conducted during Book 2. Galbertstown offered the bay who had the added pizzazz of a recent juvenile group 3 race update to recommend him to the discerning palate, and the half brother to last week's Tattersalls Stakes (G3) runner-up Diego Ventura (IRE) created some excitement in the ring. The Tally-Ho team would have been well-informed about the merits of Diego Ventura as Wathnan Racing's colt that was breezed by the Mullinagar operation is by their leading young sire Mehmas (IRE), and patriarch Tony O'Callaghan, with son Roger, was on hand to add the half brother to a pair of winners to their collection for next year's breeze-up sales. "We're breezing him and the Cotai Glory (Lot 808), it's our favorite game," was Roger O'Callaghan's succinct summation of the €135,000 (US$148,237, €1=US$1.10) signing. "We like selling fast ones and his half brother was quick, so we hope this one is quick too, he looks nice." Statistics The difficult trading conditions which have popped up throughout the yearling sales season continued Friday, but it wasn't all bad news. Twenty-four lots made at least €50,000, an increase on last year's sale. That and a clearance rate for the second session of 74%, up from 70% Oct. 3, were the rare silver linings. On Friday a total of 151 of the 203 horses on offered were sold, which generated €2,888,000 (US$3,171,168) in turnover, a steep decline of almost 21% on the second day of the 2023 sale. The average fell back by 14% year-on-year from €22,186 to €19,126 (US$21,001) while the median declined by 6% to €16,000 (US$17,569) from €17,000 in 2023. Statement from Goffs group chief executive Henry Beeby: "Overall Goffs Orby Book 2 returned a clearance rate of 72% which was down from 75% in 2023 with 322 horses selling for a total of €6,603,800 which is a fall of 18% on the turnover from last year which was €8,097,500. The sale average of €20,509 was 8% lower than in 2023 while the median figure of €15,500 represented a 14% drop in the same time frame. "The last two days have been very different however, as the numbers are some way off what any of us would like and well behind the last two years. A clearance rate of 72% is not the most positive and all the key statistics are back to 2021 levels, which is disappointing notwithstanding they mirror trends seen at every other second-tier European yearling sale so far, and competition for the good ones has been as fierce as ever. "As an auction house we exist to serve breeders and provide a marketplace to the best of our ability by investing huge time and resource into every area with marketing, travel, incentives and so much more. That we have done, even if some may say it is not enough, and it could be that these two days are simply following the market correction trends that are going to be the story of 2024."